Obituary of Harold Collins

Harold Collins loved to help others... Kathy Eckler didn't see much of her father, Harold F. Collins, when she was growing up on the family's farm in Morning View. He was too busy working, providing for his two daughters and three sons. "He believed he was the provider, and my mother was the one to raise us," said Eckler, who still lives in Morning View. Mr. Collins, who died Tuesday at 69, grew up on a farm near Walton with his six siblings and a few of his cousins. He dropped out of high school to take a job driving a school bus for the Kenton County Public Schools. In the early 1960s, after a stint as a wrecker driver, he went to work as a heavy equipment operator for the Kenton County Public Works department, where he worked for 27½ years until he retired in 1990. As a young man, he enjoyed carpentry, and often helped his father, who was a self-employed carpenter. He built rooms onto the farm house in Morning View where his children grew up, and also onto the house he and his wife moved to in Independence in 1974. He loved animals, and always made sure the family had horses, cows, pigs, dogs and cats on the farm. He and his wife loved to camp, and when he retired, he decided he wanted to leave Kenton County. They found a lot in Perry Park, a golf community on the Kentucky River in Grant County, and lived there until his death. He never got into golf, his daughter said, but he enjoyed helping the other residents when their golf carts needed fixing. He also took care of their property when they moved away for the winter. "Dad liked to help the people at Perry Park," Eckler said. Mr. Collins was a member of Squiresville Baptist Church, Owenton. A daughter, Cheryl Ann Collins, preceded him in death. Survivors, other than his daughter, include his wife of 48 years, Billie Sue Martin Collins; another daughter, Vickie Sue Luhring of Batesville, Ind.; sons, Timothy W. Collins of Independence, Steven H. Collins of Florence, and Dale Kemp of Gratz; mother, Corrine Collins of Erlanger; brothers, Pete Collins of Independence and Johnny Collins of Richwood; sisters, Marie Gabbard of Hamilton, Ohio, Laverne Driscoll of San Angelo, Texas, Elaine Willowby of Crittenden, and Diane Bach of Independence; and six grandchildren. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Chambers and Grubbs Funeral Home, Florence. Visitation will begin there at 11 a.m. Friday. Mr. Collins will be cremated. Memorials are suggested to Squiresville Baptist Church, Squiresville Road, Owenton, Ky. 40359.